DESTINATION Generic 51 Photosets
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| Summer HAZfest 2012 AZ, AZ | |
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| | Summer HAZfest 2012 AZ, AZ | | | |
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Summer HAZfest 2012 AZ, AZ
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| Car Camping | |
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| | Car Camping | | 3 Days | | |
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| Was really looking forward to this Event, especially since I missed the last one. What a great way to get together with old friends and meet some new ones! 
I had planned on leaving Thursday morning and doing some fishing on the way up, but family health issues delayed my start. I didn't get to the Rim Road turnoff until after dark. What a drive the Rim Road was! Just missed hitting a Cow, and then saw Elk crossing the Road on 4 different occasions, with a few being Bulls with some pretty nice Racks. I arrived at the Campsite area after 9:00 P.M. after a little confusion on the turnoff. Todd wasn't there yet, so I parked and waited, knowing he would show up soon. Only had to wait about 5 minutes and there he was! I followed him down to his intended Campsite area and then we both proceeded to get unpacked and set up. I got to meet Kai, who is a very sweet, old Labrador Retriever. He is pretty blind, but somehow managed to commute between my Camp area and Todd's the entire time.  Got set up, sat around and talked abit, then decided to go ahead and have a fire. Walked out to the meadow and saw a few Meteors shooting across the sky, which was way cool! It was a tad chilly, so went back to the fire after a bit and then hit the hay, anticipating the rest of the crew's arrival the next day.
The next morning a Hiker strolls into camp to say hello. Turns out it was Larry (Oregon Hiker) and he had also arrived the night before, but had camped up along the top of Buck Spring Canyon. After the introductions, he left to go get his vehicle and Bobby Rocketfeet shows up with a Rocketfoot Lab in tow. It was nice to meet Bruno and now we have two whitish Labs in camp. Bob almost immediately found the plush double camp chair of Todd's and plopped down for awhile and it didn't take much convincing to get him to have a brew...He had done one Hike already today, but was going to leave and go do Horton when he left camp....That idea kinda went by the wayside after the 2nd Brew....  He hung out for awhile and we all had a nice visit, before Bruno and Bob took off for the valley....
Larry showed up with his truck and got his camp set up. We visited and relaxed for awhile and towards later afternoon, I decided that I still wanted to get some fishing in and see Knoll Lake. (Separate Triplog) At this point, there was just the 3 of us in camp still. Took off, and as we were arriving back at camp, ran into Corey in his vehicle. He asked if we were with HAZ and when we said yes, he followed us in. After I turned off onto the mogul road, it occurred to me that this road might be a little rough for his Prius. I knew if he picked the right line, he would be fine and I hoped he was watching my line. We both made it down ok, and I breathed a small sigh of relief that I hadn't set him up to screw up his car.... 
Back at camp, it was amAZing! I left with just Todd in camp, I came back to a HAZ community in full swing!!!  6 more had shown up and most finished arriving as the evening went on. Greeted some old friends, met some new ones and had a great evening, cooking, laughing, joking, and Meteor gazing!!!
Got up the next morning and after greeting Joe and meeting the Eagle, Trish, Cindy, Angela and I took off hiking! (Separate Triplog) Had a great day Hiking, laughing, joking, cooking, and Meteor gazing, this time with live music, thanks to Jon, Joel and Liz...
Sunday, the HAZers gradually started to leave for home, some with Scenic Drives in mind. Todd went for a Hike and Liz and I became the only ones left in camp by mid afternoon. Relaxed for awhile, (I think all the laughing for 3 days wore me out), got up, did a few things around camp, packed the car, and then decided to go, after Todd got back from his Hike. I wanted to leave just before Sunset with the hopes of checking out a few areas for Elk and maybe getting some Sunset photos. I parked in several places along the Rim on the way out, hoping that the Elk would be migrating into the areas for night grazing, but didn't see any. Enjoyed a nice Sunset on the Rim edge and then headed for the valley.
Although the Meteor shower wasn't as good as hoped for, it was very entertaining out in the meadow. Laying amongst Elk poop, completely in the dark, and hearing the ooohhhs and awwwws when a Meteor was spotted was a riot! Somehow, the one-liners and jests seemed to be twice as funny when they came out of nowhere, in the dark...It definitely added to the Star Gazing experience....
Don't have enough words to describe this weekend. It was incredibly awesome, hilarious, and priceless!!! Great Trips, awesome company, missing Hiker, Law Enforcement, Cooking Demonstration, T-shirt modeling, insect attacks into Private Space, eating, drinking, and the gamut of subjects around the Campfires that never quit...Thanks Todd for creating this Event and making sure that everyone got there despite the FS Maps! The site you picked was perfect, with a variety of Hikes onsight for everyone!!! Eagerly anticipating the next one!!!!  |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
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| Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty & well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, totally worn out & proclaiming, "Wow What a Ride!" |
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